The present invention relates to a portable cart for transporting highly sensitive equipment, such as a femtosecond laser. The invention includes the ability to secure the portable cart in a truck bed or other transportation means for transport to various locations and subsequent removal of the portable cart with the highly sensitive equipment for delivery to a doctor's office or clinic to use and operate the equipment as desired.
Femtosecond lasers have been used recently in cataract surgery because the lasers can generate consistent and stable incisions. The lasers present an alternative to previous methods including using sharp, sterile blades to cut the cornea. Using such blades can increase the risk of infection following surgeries. Meanwhile, using the femtosecond laser may reduce the aforementioned risk of infection. Also, femtosecond lasers may be used in other optical surgeries including “FemtoLASIK” surgery. As a result of their safety and efficacy, femtosecond lasers have become a common and effective instrument in ophthalmology. Presently, a number of femtosecond lasers are at or near the point of commercial release including the Alcon LenSx, OptiMedica Catalys, LensAR, and Technolas laser systems.
Due to the size and highly sensitive nature of femtosecond lasers, as well as other highly sensitive lasers for ophthalmic surgery, fixed-site centers where femtosecond lasers are permanently located are typically employed only in large metropolitan areas. Of course, this limits the availability of the femtosecond lasers to large segments of users in outlying geographic areas.
As a result, a self-contained portable cart for transporting highly sensitive equipment such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,914 (“the '914 patent”) was developed. This portable cart is able to securely and safely transport highly sensitive equipment from one location to another using an air cushion suspension system. Air cushions contained in a mobile cart act as shock absorbers for when the cart and its highly sensitive equipment are in transit. Multiple carts securing highly sensitive equipment may be secured within a truck cab or other transportation means. The cart of the present invention may be removably mounted to the floor of the truck cab to prevent the cart and highly sensitive equipment from jostling therein and damaging the equipment.
In the prior art portable cart, however, the frames and components associated with the highly sensitive equipment are not adaptable such that the carts may be used with any type of laser or other highly sensitive equipment that comes to market. The frames are not capable of receiving and securing multiple sizes and varieties of highly sensitive equipment. As technology evolves, and subsequent lasers and other highly sensitive equipment are developed, it would become expensive to be required to replace the entire cart each time such a development emerged. A solution is needed where the cart may be adaptable to transport and secure lasers and other highly sensitive equipment that have a variety of shapes and sizes.
Moreover, the cart of the '914 patent includes two apparatuses extending upward from the cart for housing controls, compressors, and other electronic or mechanical devices for controlling the cart. The presence of both apparatuses may cause the weight of the cart of the '914 patent to be imbalanced. Thus it would be advantageous to secure some of the cart's electrical and mechanical components in a more centered, balanced position.
The cart from the prior art '914 patent also includes a mechanism for locking the cart down in a truck cab where the cart is housed and transported from one location to another. In the prior art reference, the mechanism is driven by a power activated retractable arm or pin that engages a floor support of the truck. The power activated mechanism eliminates the requirement of manually releasing the retractable arm from the support. Yet, in the event of a power failure, unloading the carts from a truck cab can become difficult without damaging a cart, floor support, retractable arm, or the truck cab floor. Thus a manual means for releasing the retractable arm or pin from the floor support is desired.
Moreover, in the cart claimed in the '914 patent, the cart bearing the highly sensitive equipment could be weighted unevenly such that it unnecessarily shifts in transit in the truck cab or other storage facility. Thus a solution is desired where the weight imbalance of the equipment is taken into account. In the solution, the cart and highly sensitive equipment would further be cushioned in a manner to prevent damage to the highly sensitive equipment.